7-Eleven has sued Nike in federal court in Texas, accusing the sportswear giant of copying the convenience store chain’s signature orange, green, and red stripe design on an Air Max 95 sneaker scheduled to release on July 11, known as “7-Eleven Day.”
The lawsuit, filed July 1 in the Northern District of Texas federal court in Dallas, alleges Nike’s upcoming Air Max 95 shoe features a “confusingly similar imitation” of 7-Eleven’s trademarked tri-color stripe branding, which consumers associate with the convenience retailer.
According to Reuters, 7-Eleven said it has used the orange, green, and red color combination for decades in store signage, advertising, merchandise, footwear, and other products, and owns many trademark registrations for the design.
The lawsuit alleges Nike intentionally designed the shoe to evoke the retailer and benefit from its brand recognition. In the filing, 7-Eleven stated “Nike has shown a callous and malicious disregard for 7-Eleven’s rights.”
7-Eleven indicated in court documents that it repeatedly tried to resolve the dispute before filing the lawsuit, but Nike indicated it would continue advertising the shoe and proceed with the planned July 11 launch.
Nike responded to the lawsuit by removing the Air Max 95 from its SNKRS app, according to multiple sources including Instagram and social media reports. The shoe had already been scheduled for release on July 11—a date the company promotes as “7-Eleven Day” with Free Slurpee Day at participating stores.
In a statement, 7-Eleven said “based on the unauthorized use of our brand along with the impending launch in a matter of days on our birthday, 7-Eleven Day (7/11), we had to act quickly and decisively to protect our brand.”
The retailer is seeking a court order blocking Nike from distributing, marketing, or selling the footwear, a recall of products already distributed, monetary damages, and Nike’s profits from sales of the sneaker. The case is 7-Eleven Inc v. Nike Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No. 3:26-cv-02201-X.
The lawsuit represents a rare instance where a convenience retailer has taken a major athletic brand to court over trademark infringement. Color-based trademarks remain among the most challenging to defend in intellectual property law, though the Supreme Court’s 1995 decision in Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. established that companies can trademark colors if they can prove consumers recognize the color as associated with their brand.
Sources
- Reuters — lawsuit details, filing date, court location, 7-Eleven statement, allegations of intentional design, settlement demands, and case number
- Yahoo Finance — 7-Eleven’s statement on damages and Nike’s removal from SNKRS
- CSP Daily News — filing date and lawsuit allegations
- Instagram (Sole Retriever) — Nike’s removal of the shoe from SNKRS app
